Mother (Nature) knew best when it came to this family heirloom favorite: The original steward, Reverend Frank Abbott, told his granddaughter, Deborah, that the beans were a “gift from the bees” a result of cross-pollinated plants in his Bolton, Connecticut, garden, sometime prior to 1919. He named the new variety Connecticut Wonder and believed it was a cross between Kentucky Wax and Cranberry Pole beans. In the mid-1970s, Deborah gave the seeds to John Withee, who donated them to Seed Savers Exchange in 1981. The pods are sweet, juicy, and slightly stringy. The strong climber grows white flowers and green pods that mature to pale yellow and contain large, shiny, dark-brown, kidney-shaped seeds. Pole habit, snap. 60-70 days.